What Motivates Recruiters to Help You Find Top Sales Talent?

Yesterday I had a conversation with a potential client.

He was frustrated because he hadn't been able to find a replacement hire for over seven months. He was already working with three other recruiters and had no candidates in current consideration for the role.

What went wrong?

Are the recruiters to blame? They had presented multiple candidates, and the one that the client was most interested in was over the budgeted compensation level. He made a comment that he thought perhaps the recruiters just wanted more money and were inflating salary expectations.

Something to Notice

If you have a contingency recruiter who's invested time into your search, provided candidates who are an 80% match, and those 'best-fit candidates' are over your compensation level, I can guarantee you the recruiter isn't trying to be greedy.

If they could find candidates in your compensation range, they'd do it. Recruiters like getting paid something for their work because something is always better than nothing.

Now I'm not sure if the client really felt this was the case, or simply didn't trust the recruiters he was using.

So Exactly What Motivates Recruiters?

1. Good companies with strong opportunities. If recruiters can represent a solid company that has openings, they will be motivated to help find top talent. Working with companies who are in a downward spiral will be difficult to represent.

2. Hiring Managers who are responsive. Waiting five days to respond to recruiters after potential candidates are sent is too long. If you're engaging recruiters, they will judge your seriousness by your responsiveness. It signals your priorities.

3. Solutions that can be both sold and delivered. No one wants to work for a company that can't deliver on its products, solutions, or offerings.

4. Relationships matter. If your recruiter finds you affable and wants to help you, they will. If you find the relationship to be adversarial, find a new recruiter.

5. Share the Information you know. If you withhold the drawbacks, I.e. how bonuses are paid out (rarely), or that the company doesn't cover any healthcare for family members, let the recruiter know up-front.

Any potential obstacles, quirks, or unexpected items should be shared with the recruiter at the onset of the search. This will prevent unnecessary surprises and turndowns at the end of the search process.

6. Provide timely feedback. When you know a candidate isn't a good fit, tell the recruiters. Don't wait a week to give them this information.

They can handle the truth. But they can't adjust their search if they don't get timely feedback, which leads to the recruiters wasting time.

7. Hiring Managers who know what they want. If you will 'know it when you see it' this needs to be further clarified. Don't say I want a 'rockstar.' A rockstar means different things to different people. The more specific you can be the better.

Talk about recruiting someone who's in the top 15% of their sales team, who's achieved at least two or more club qualifications. You'll be more likely to get the kind of person you want faster with very specific and clear requirements.

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These Tips Will Help You Get What You Need from Today's Recruiters

Follow these seven tips and you'll have a higher rate of success when it comes to working with third-party recruiters.

Better recruiter relationships lead to better hires. With a team of recruiters on your side, it's easier to find the talent you need to dominate your space and meet your top line revenue goals.